Valley Vet Supplytag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-16534482011-07-21T15:00:00-05:00Shop our wide range of pet supplies and pet products. Our pet store provides an effortless online pet supply shopping experience.TypePadWild Thing! Calm that Dog!tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00e5526d2b958833014e8a06be67970d2011-07-21T15:00:00-05:002011-07-21T15:00:00-05:00“Wild Thing!” That’s what our vet called our rescue mutt that was part blue-heeler and springer spaniel, named “Dottie.” I was back for Dottie’s shots and she was going crazy in the office. She had already mortified me by hurtling...Valley Vet Supply

“Wild Thing!” That’s what our vet called our rescue mutt that was part blue-heeler and springer spaniel, named “Dottie.” I was back for Dottie’s shots and she was going crazy in the office. She had already mortified me by hurtling herself past the leash to slam into the large backside of a stranger, slamming her into the front counter. My face was on fire with embarrassment as I later tried to explain to my vet how out-of-control this dog was. We had even done obedience training and at the 4-H contest, the senior judge finally gave up his stern looks, put his head down and just laughed at the ridiculous mess she made of the whole show. Since I got Dottie from this vet, she actually told me I could give the dog back if I needed to. “Dottie falls in the top 1 - 2 percent of hyper dogs,” she explained to me. “I would understand if you bring her back.” I almost considered it, but my son loved the wild thing and she had a golden heart. I pictured her back at the vet clinic excitedly barking herself to exhaustion and death - or moved up in the “go to sleep” line so everyone - man and beast could cope. Dottie came back home with me.

We had hoped for an inside dog, but that hope was long gone. She was too excitable. I tried the usual discipline methods, but this dog didn’t care. She took the correction with joyous abandon. We put her in the yard on a chain which would hold her for about a week, and then “Hoodini” (one of many nick names) found her freedom. She ate through heavy duty airline cable wires galore. She was a digger, and no fence would hold her. We finally went to a feed store and bought truck pull chain by the foot. We got a swivel snap for both ends from Valley Vet to keep it from knotting up. Wild thing was finally confined to the yard, but now I had to find a way to calm her down....especially at night. The neighbors did not want to hear barking all night. Neither did we. The sonic bark inhibitor didn’t work, and we were running out of options.

On a desperate whim, we took a wire cage door off of a kennel and fitted it on the front of the dog house. Now we could kennel her at night. But it needed something else. A covered door - one that would keep her from seeing out at the scary world to bark at, and one that could filter all the smells coming in. We hung a solid rug on the front. It worked! The barking improved by 95%! Of course, we kennel her last thing at night and open it up first thing in the a.m., but she has her blanket in there and feels safe, so the barking is over. It actually keeps her warmer in the winter, and we use a lighter cover over her door in the summer. Her house is large enough for water as well, so she stays pretty satisfied.

Wild thing Dottie Hoodini is a unique dog, and needed her own unique way to calm down and sleep. Even an indoor dog can be kenneled with her security toys and blanket, but may need a dark sheet or blanket thrown over her “safe house” so that she doesn’t see the lightning or hear the storm so loudly. Somehow that worked for us - I hope it can settle your “wild thing” too! Ellen